Prisoner of the Trees
by Beatlesbiggestfan1
Summary: In the Kingdom of Trees and Darkness, a young prisoner awaits his death sentence; but when the subjects of the kingdom begin to show their true colors, a spark of hope is lit.
1. Prologue

_Hello, and welcome to poorly written story time with Beatlesbiggestfan1. Please try to ignore the cheesey title._

_Prologue_

A loud boom echoed throughout the eerie silence of the prison, catching the attention of the prisoners held within it. They watched as a small light came into view from the black abyss below them. _A new prisoner._ As the platform lifted the light higher, three figures appeared. The prisoners craned their necks to catch a glimpse of this new-comer. As the newest addition to the prison approached the main reformatory floor, some of the prisoners let out small gasps. This new prisoner was so young; he couldn't be much more than a teenager! They watched silently as the two guards lead him to the head prison guard, who sat in an old dusty chair in a corner fiddling with a little necklace she wore. "We have a new one for ya Nepeta." The first guard rasped. Nepeta stood up from her chair and examined the new prisoner with a hint of sadness in her eyes. She cleared her throat and swiped the emotion from her face, looking down at her feet. "Very well," she turned her attention to the prisoner once more; "What might your name be?" she asked gently. The prisoner kept his angered eyes locked on the floor, staying silent for a while. "Karkat Vantas.", he finally answered. Nepeta nodded and grabbed a clipboard from the wall, adding his name to the list of criminals who occupied the prison. "Age?" she pressed on. "Seventeen" he mumbled. Nepeta raised her eyebrows. "You're a little young to be committing crimes worthy of _prison_ time, aren't you?" she purred questioningly. Karkat's head shot up, and his hateful glare met her gentle gaze. "You're a little young to be guarding _savage criminals _like us, aren't you?" he hissed sarcastically, mocking her high, young tone of voice. Nepeta frowned and quickly turned her head back to the clipboard to scribble _'Age: 17' _on it. "Crime?" She asked carefully. He returned his glare to the floor. A long silence passed. "Crime?" she asked again, awkwardly. More silence. After a long time, the first guard got impatient and spoke up. "He's a mutant-blood." He snapped quickly. "His crime is simply existing. The queen requested he be imprisoned until she returns in 2 months. He will then be executed."

The second guard let out a cold laugh. "If I know the queen, she probably wants to see the pitiful look on his_ disgusting_ mutant face when he bites the dust." He says, giving Karkat a hard kick to the ribs. Karkat let out a small cry of pain and mumbled something to himself before suddenly getting to his feet and using all his might to ram into the first guard. The guard let out a gasp of surprise and lost his balance, falling right onto Nepeta's chair. The second guard drew his gun, but instead of shooting, slammed it against the back of Karkat's head, knocking him unconscious immediately.


	2. -Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

I woke up with a start. I sat up slowly, wincing at the sudden stab of pain in the back of my head. As I became more aware of my surroundings, a flood of questions filled my head. _Who am I? Where am I? Why am I not at home? What happened last night? _I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to answer my questions. _I am Karkat Vantas. I don't know where I am. I don't know how I got here, but I know something bad happened last night… if only I could remember._ I glanced down at the deep blackness of the floor, and then shut my eyes once again to think. I froze suddenly, and whipped my head back to the floor. There was no floor! All the way down for as far as I could see, was an endless abyss of darkness. I frantically shot my head back and forth, up and down; trying to figure out where I was. Dark brown figures branched out of a long pole that never seemed to end… wait, not a pole. A tree! I was in a tree!

I was on a large branch, in the tallest tree to probably ever exist. Countless branches reached out from every direction of the tree's massive, yet slender trunk. The majority of the branches looked strong enough to hold at least one person. Small lights were built into the trunk of the tree, providing a dim light source. I suddenly felt overwhelmingly dizzy. How had I slept on this branch without falling into that never-ending emptiness below? I stared down into the darkness for a while before finally dismissing the question. I tried to focus on the main question in my head: How did I get here? I racked my brain for the answer. Suddenly, the sharp pain in the back of my head returned. The pain must have triggered some place in my mind to function, because suddenly the memory came rushing back.

I had been taking a walk around town late at night; I couldn't seem to sleep without being awoken once more by my nightmares. I had just walked past the blacksmith's shop when I heard a noise. Footsteps; quick ones, coming towards my direction. I whipped around just in time to see the blur of a man's face before he stabbed me right in the arm. I let out a loud cry of pain and surprise mixed together. The man then proceeded to knock me onto my back and pin my arms down.

"Listen kid, here's the deal." He said in a rough voice. "You give me all of your money, and I'll let you live. If not…" he let out a raspy laugh and put a knife to my throat.

I stared at him, still in shock. All of a sudden, I froze. My eyes darted down to the spot where the man had stabbed me, and my heart nearly stopped. A large amount of blood flowed from the wound. _Bright_ _Red_ blood. _Mutant blood_. The man followed my gaze, and his eyes widened. His face twisted into a wicked grin, and he looked back at my face.

"Well well well, what do we have here? A mutant blood?" he paused thoughtfully. "You know... if I'm not mistaken, there's a _huge_ reward for the capture of _your_ kind." He said with an ear-to-ear grin.

My heart sank. That was it. I was done for. My secret was out. I tried one last panicked attempt to escape, but the man was too strong. He pulled me to my feet and practically dragged me all the way to the Authority Center in the middle of town. He handed me over to the local Guard, who rewarded him with a sack of coins. The man gave me one last wink before I was carried off to be delivered to the prison. For a long time, I sat in silence alone with the guard, handcuffed to a metal bar in the jail-cart. Finally, another guard appeared. He stated that the Queen wished for me to be imprisoned until she returned from an important trip in two months. The first guard nodded, and they proceeded to deliver me to the prison. The next series of events went by in a flash. Entering the prison, being insulted by the guard, losing my cool and trying to beat up the guard…. And that's all I could remember. They must have tranquilized me or knocked me out or something, because now I was in a tree. And I was pretty sure I knew where this tree was. Redwood Prison. The only prison that used trees instead of the usual prison cells.

I leaned my head back against the tree and let out a long sigh. "What now?" I whispered to myself.

I looked down at the darkness beneath me, and made my decision. I began to climb down the tree. I had no idea how long it would take me to get to the bottom… if there even _was_ a bottom, but I had to try.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

A long exasperated sigh escaped my lips. _How long has it been? _I thought to myself. _It must have been at least 3 hours by now..._

I looked up the long stalk of the tree and squinted my eyes. The tip of the tree had disappeared into the darkness, so it _had_ to have been quite a while since I had decided to climb down the tree. I was out of breath, I was tired, and I was covered in scratches; compliments of my horrible tree climbing skills; but I pushed myself to continue down. There had to be an end to this stupid tree.

Just as I began to get the hang of climbing down, I noticed the gap. A few branches down from me, there was a large space; about thirteen feet, that had no branches. As I got closer, my hope became even thinner. The gap had no branches to climb on, no stumps to grip, and to top it all off, the trunk looked as if someone had sanded it until it was smooth as a table. I slowly realized that it must have purposely been stripped of its bark and branches to outsmart any prisoners who tried to escape. I cursed under my breath and lowered myself to a sitting position on a branch.

"How stupid _am_ I?" I hissed to myself. "What, did I think I was just going to climb right down this tree and march out the doors to freedom? Of course there's going to be impossible obstacles! This is a PRISON!" I yelled into the dark emptiness. My anger began to boil up inside of me as I realized how stupid I was to waste my energy climbing down this stupid tree without thinking about it first.

I took a short, angry breath and stared down into the shadows below. I blinked slowly, as an idea began to devise in my head. Right at the end of the gap, there was a distinctly thick branch coming out of the tree. _If I could just jump at the right angle, maybe…_

_No. I couldn't jump that far down onto a single tree branch without falling into that ocean of nothingness. But then again, I'm dead anyways. I've got nothing to lose._

I let out a shaky breath and slowly lifted myself to a squatting position. I pushed my doubts to the side before they could consume me into going back up the tree. I let out three more quick breaths.

"I can do this." I said breathlessly.

I leaned forward.

"I can do this."

Slid my feet to the edge of the branch.

"I can… no… no I can't" I shook my head quickly.

I drew back by an only an inch, but my luck ran short. My foot slid completely off the branch, and my other foot followed. Frantically, I clawed for anything I could catch myself on, but nothing was there. I let out a small noise and squeezed my eyes shut as I slipped completely off the branch and shot downward. For just a split second, time seemed to slow, and I was floating in mid-air. I was filled with every thinkable emotion all at once. Horrified, Wondrous, Shocked; and as I let my eyes open, I was jerked back to reality. A large object was flying up to meet me at a remarkable speed. My face twisted into horror as I realized it was the thick branch, and I was only seconds away from colliding with it. I flailed my legs and arms, trying to turn myself upright, but I only leaned back more. All feeling drained from my legs as I fell. I squeezed my eyes shut once more and curled up into a ball at the last second. The distance between the branch and my body finally closed, and my lower back hit the branch head on, knocking every bit of air out of my lungs. Billions of little spots and stars blurred my vision as I plummeted down, slamming into branch after branch after branch, my consciousness fading with every hit. Only one thought could compute in my mind through the pain, shock, and fear: _Grab a branch._

My arms felt twice as heavy as I aimlessly thrashed them around. My mind was spinning, and I was losing awareness as I reached for anything I could grab. I managed to hit every _other_ part of my body with branches; my face, my back, my legs, my neck, but I could not focus hard enough to grip any of the branches I was colliding with. I tried to breathe, but no air would come to my lungs. I channeled all of the energy in my body into keeping myself awake, but the blows to the head were no help. I repeated the words in my head. _Grab a branch, Grab a branch, Grab a branch. _

I strained my eyes until I was sure they would melt under pressure. Finally, something in my mind connected, and I gripped the tip of a branch.

"YES" I somehow managed to croak.

My hand slipped off of the branch a split second later, but I did manage to slow myself down a bit. I grazed another branch with my hand, slipped off again. I continued to grab with all my might, until finally my fists clenched completely around a branch. Within a second I took an intensely painful jolt to a stop. I heard a loud snap, and realized that the force of the stop had caused my shoulder to make the noise. I dangled there for a moment, and then the pain hit me. A tidal wave of throbbing pain rushed to every inch of my body, and it took all of my will not to let go of the branch my fists held so tightly. Only then did I realize that I had been holding my breath for who-knows-how-long. I inhaled as hard as I could, trying desperately to rejuvenate my lungs with air. I breathed in and out so desperately that I thought I would drop dead right there. I reached a point of frantic gasping as I finally pried my fist from the branch and practically dropped myself onto a lower branch. I sat there in an awkward position on that branch for the longest time, trembling like a bush. My vision blurred once more, and my breathing became rapid and shallow. My head slumped into a downward position, and I caught a glimpse of what looked like the light of the ground before everything faded to black.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_((First of all let me apologize for not updating this story since last year... my computer broke in January, I just now got another computer, and to be honest I forgot this story even existed. But hopefully, I can try to update this story more often now that I'm back on track. Also, I noticed that my previous chapters are rather short, so I will also try to produce longer chapters from now on. So without further ado, here is chapter 3.))_

The first thing that registers in my mind is pain. Then exhaustion. I try to open my eyes, but my eyelids will barely lift past anything but a squint. I take a shaky breath and try to turn my head, but the sharp pain that shoots up my neck stops me. I close my eyes once again and reflect on my actions. What a pure _idiot _I was for trying to jump to that branch. I curse myself over and over in my mind until my head begins to throb and I am overcome with dizziness. I force myself to open my eyes and scan my surroundings. A pang of shock shoots through me as I look to see that the ground is only about 10 feet below me. I tilt my head down to get a better view of the ground, despite the pain that stabs at my neck. It is dimly lit, and the guard on duty is fast asleep in his chair. I am awkwardly positioned; being held up by two thick branches, with my head up against the trunk of the tree. I feel my leg slipping off of it's resting spot on the branch, and am immediately filled with panic. My body tells me I am too badly injured to sit up, but I would not allow myself to fall again. I pull up all of my strength, and manage to drag myself into a sitting position. Pain courses through my whole body, and I hold my breath until it softens. I gather up my courage, and finally take a look at the damage that my body has taken. A small gasp escapes my mouth as I look down at myself in confusion. There are countless cuts everywhere, but they look as if someone has cleaned them, and there is a white creamy substance applied to each wound. I lift my arm as far as it will go without inflicting too much pain, and examine the cuts. I conclude that the white cream appears to be a medicine of some sort, and my wounds _must have _been cleaned by someone, somehow, because most of them have nearly healed, and are covered in scabs. I then go through a process of slowly trying to move my limbs. My fingers seem to be stiff and sore, but none broken. My arms, however, are not so lucky. The bone in my left elbow seems to be jotting out, and my stomach does a flip-flop at the sight of it. I turn my head from it quickly and try moving my right arm. I am suddenly reminded that this was the arm I used to grab onto the branch when I was falling, as the shoulder pounds with pain and I turn my head slowly to look at it. Although it hurts, it doesn't feel broken, possibly dislocated or sprained. I move my legs, and feel a small pinching pain in my right ankle. I stop testing out my limbs for a moment to think. I am filled with surprise as I get deeper in thought, I was expecting most of, if not every bone in my body to be broken from a fall like that, and the injuries I did have were so minor in comparison to even my least expectations. A thought suddenly occurs to me; how long have I been unconscious? There is obviously no way of telling time or date in this place, so how am I to know? I could have been out for hours... days... weeks... I take a quick, irritated breath and decide to deal with that matter later.

I take in my surroundings once more, not yet knowing what else to do. My eyes suddenly fall on a small white tube, which is neatly tied to the end of the branch I am resting on by a small string. I strain my eyes to figure out what it is, but the light is too dim to make out what exactly it is. I slowly lean forward, willing myself to ignore the pain that threatens to boil over. I shakily untie the string and retrieve the tube from underneath it, and lean back against the tree trunk. It appears to be a paper, neatly curled into a tube. I slide it open and raise it close to my eyes, to see the print on it. It simply reads: _'Don't touch your wounds, I will be in touch soon!'_ in olive green ink, and at the bottom of the note is what appears to be a drawing of a sleeping cat with two mouths instead of one. I stare blankly at the note for a moment, and then narrow my eyes. What the heck is that supposed to mean? I crumple up the note and am about to throw it down to the ground when something in my mind tells me I shouldn't. I grudgingly shove it in my pocket, and turn my gaze to the ground. The guard stirs in his sleep, and makes some sort of mumbling noise. If that guard is to wake up any time soon, and see me perching so close to the ground, I am sure to be punished extremely. I conclude that I should somehow get myself higher up the tree, or at least as far out of sight as I can get from the guard. The thought of even _trying _to climb higher in this tree sends chills down my spine. I am sure that if I somehow get out of here alive, I will never climb another tree again. But for now, I'll have to push my newly found fears aside and force myself to climb up this tree. I take a long, deep breath and slowly try to stand myself up. Numerous jolts of pain shoot though my limbs, and I drop back into a sitting position. How could I have forgotten the most important factor in this situation; that nearly every part of my body is in horrible condition? I feel anger flush into my mind and proceed to call myself every curse word I can think of. Such a incompetent idiot I am to forget such a thing! I continue hissing to myself for quite a while before a loud creak echoes through the chamber. I take a short intake of breath and look down at the source of the sound. The large steel door of the chamber creaks open and someone steps inside. My eyebrows raise slightly as I recognise the troll to be the female guard with the clipboard, who I met when I was first imprisoned here. She seems even smaller than before from this point of view, and she walks with a half-skip, half stride; over to the sleeping guard. She shakes her head at him, and then lets out a small mischevious laugh. She leans over and grasps the legs of the stool he is sleeping on, and pulls the stool right out from underneath him. He falls to the floor with a loud satisfying thud, and she breaks out in small giggles as the guard lets out a yelp of confusion. He jumps to his feet and waves his weapon around blindly before coming to his senses. He gives what I think to be an icy glare at the girl, and kicks the stool angrily.

"You think this is funny, do ya?!" he bellows at her, and she clears her throat to stop herself from laughing more.

"Yes!" she giggles. The guard crosses his arms and gives her an almost childish sigh of frustration.

"Oh come on, it's so sad and dark here, I pawsitively _have _to make some sort of fun once in a while!" she exclaims.

"Well do it on your own time Nepeta, because a troll of your current ranking as head guard should take their job much more seriously than you do! And did I detect one of those idiotic cat puns you insist on using in your speech? I doubt anyone will take you seriously if you keep lolling on with 'p_awsitively_' this and '_purrfect_' that! If anyone is fit to be head guard, it is definitely not you!" the guard huffed at her.

Nepeta.. the Head Guard? I let out a small, silent, wry laugh at that thought. She seems far more immature than she was when I first met her, I would have never guessed she was the Head Guard. Nepeta let out a small sigh of impatience and made a shooing motion with her hands.

"It's my shift now, so shoo!" she stated simply. The guard shook his head and stalked out of the chamber, slamming the large steel door behind him and locking it. His loud footsteps echoed through the prison as he stomped away. Nepeta stared at the door until the footsteps faded out and there was nothing but complete silence. After a long pause, Nepeta looked around, and then silently walked over to the door. She pulled a key out of her belt and locked several different locks on the inside of the door. She turned around slowly, and directed her gaze straight at me. A stab of fear hit me as I remembered how close I was to the ground. I was sure to get some sort of beating now. She stares up at me for a moment longer, then quickly turns her head back to the door, and then her gaze is back on me.

I start to think she is just going to stare at me forever until she opens her mouth and says, "I am Nepeta, and I'm going to help you escape this prison."


End file.
